A project to bring back the river puffer, a species that once appeared at the mouth of the Nakdong River but disappeared due to environmental changes, has continued for an eighth year.
According to the Busan Metropolitan City on the 15th, the city's Fisheries Resources Research Institute released 50,000 young river puffers into the coastal waters off Saha-gu and Gangseo-gu that day. These puffers were hatched directly at the institute from fertilized eggs secured last May and raised for more than 50 days. The healthy, superior seedlings, measuring more than 5 centimeters in length, were released after undergoing disease testing.
The river puffer is a representative premium fish species that grows up to 45 centimeters. It is a migratory species that lives in the sea and, during the spawning season from April to June, swims up the river mouth to spawn on gravel beds. In the past, it was commonly seen at the mouth of the Nakdong River. However, due to environmental changes at the river mouth and habitat loss, its population plummeted, and natural harvesting now takes place only in the Imjin River and Han River basins.
The institute has continued its release project every year since successfully carrying out its own trial production in 2018 to bring the vanished river puffer back to the Nakdong River. The cumulative number of river puffers released into the coastal waters at the mouth of the Nakdong River so far reaches 500,000.
The institute believes this river puffer release carries greater symbolic significance for restoring the brackish-water ecosystem at the mouth of the Nakdong River than simply expanding the catch. The river puffer is considered a representative species that indicates the ecological health of brackish-water zones, where fresh water and seawater meet.
This year, in addition to river puffers, the institute released about 800,000 fish seedlings, including flounder and black porgy. It plans to further expand production of various region-specific species such as kuruma prawns going forward, pursuing both the recovery of coastal fish stocks and increased income for fishermen.
"We will continue to produce and release various fish seedlings on our own to recover coastal fisheries resources and establish a stable income base for fishermen," said Kim Jun-tae, head of the institute.
